Hobbies-Turned-Obsessions. I seek out cemeteries, urban decay, beautiful old things and the random oddity. Words and images follow.

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Really Nice Book Reviews: Death, Evolution & Bottoming

The Audible app is my new best friend. For $14.95 a month I can work on my smarts while driving to my office or dodging dog poop during my morning walk. If I’m not feeling a recent purchase I can return it through Audible’s website and get a return credit instantly. Additional books cost additional funds, however Audible runs some really great sales on select titles from time to time (I just loaded up on a bunch of pop science gems from a favorite author at $4.95 each, saving a grand total of $45!).

Why the “really nice” part, you ask? Because if I don’t enjoy reading a book I’m not going to finish reading it, and if I don’t finish reading a book I’m in no position to properly review it. This means that the books I mention on hObsessions were an absolute pleasure to read/listen to. I’ve even done away with numerical rating systems based upon red giants and white dwarfs, because I’m too sweet to give anything less than a stellar “5” and we’re sick of that shit anyway.

If you’ve been tuning in to hObsessions for a little while now or if you know me in real life, you probably have a pretty good idea where my interests lie. If you have some book recommendations for me please add them to the comments section below, and I hope you enjoy mine!

I wish this book had been around in 2013 and I had read it then, because I would’ve recognized guilt disguised as overdramatic grief a lot earlier when shit hit the fan last year.

That’s just one of the countless priceless insights death-positive mortician Caitlin Doughty drops on our morbidly curious ears in this fast-paced account of her years as a young, female, Bay Area crematory employee. In an empathic, humble and appropriately humorous tone, Caitlin describes her job responsibilities, challenges, coworkers, clients and personal journey with the honesty and vulnerability of a trusted friend.

Whether you’re interested in peeking in on the less glamorous aspects of the death industry, or if you’re looking to expose yourself to some end of life truths so you can cozy on up to your inevitable impending demise, this book’s for you.

Bill Nye narrates the Audible version of this book, which is undeNYEably enough reason to listen while you dig for trilobite fossils and ruminate on Bill’s impressive cheekbones. His sense of humor keeps things relatively light while he explains evolution to the non-scientists among us; things we kinda already knew, but with the added pizzazz of unexpected dinosaur feathers and fuck racism undertones.

I’m actually surprised I made it through 9 hours and 30 minutes of pretty heavy science talk. I mean, I can barely sit through 5 minutes of most TV shows, and board games? More like bored games, ammirite? Apparently a bow tie makes all the difference.

BDSM isn’t for everybody, but if you have bottoming proclivities, chances are you’re already aware of it on some level. This book (written by two bitchin’ Bay Area broads with years of experience as both participants and educators in the scene) serves as a source of inspiration, education and — perhaps most importantly — validation. It celebrates the power a submissive (my go-to bottoming term) holds in a BDSM relationship while giving insight into the needs of both tops and bottoms.

The authors discuss several important considerations regarding play, safety, manners, kinky social settings and how not to be an asshole. To these ends, I’d encourage curious bottoms and dabbling tops (and especially know-it-all tops and clueless swingers who horn in on and neglect basic BDSM etiquette) to get down with Janet, Dossie, and a solid swat to one’s hindquarters. Before long you’ll all be begging for more!

Until next time…

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(The book links in this post are Amazon affiliate links. If you click on them and make a purchase, I might earn a few pennies, maybe.)